Big Chunk Of Budget Earmarked For Parks

July 21, 1985|By David Jackson, Staff Writer

It is time for the county`s taxpayers to pay to play.

Regional and neighborhood parks take up $3.35 million in County Administrator Floyd Johnson`s proposed budget for the fiscal year 1986, which starts Oct. 1. Most of that money -- $3.05 million -- is designated for expansion and construction of the larger regional parks.

The most costly proposals are for two parks in the planning stages, Brian Piccolo Park between Cooper City and Pembroke Pines ($1.05 million) and West Lake in Hollywood ($678,210).

These projects help make up the first year of a proposed five-year park program budgeted at $19.5 million. The program includes the county`s 11 regional parks and 16 smaller neighborhood parks.

The Broward County Commission is scheduled to discuss the proposed budget in August and hold public hearings on Sept. 18 and 26, with final approval scheduled for Sept. 26.

West Lake, touted to be the state`s largest coastal park, is planned for a 1,300-acre mangrove area in Hollywood, south of Dania Beach Boulevard and north of Johnson Street, between the Intracoastal Waterway and North 11th Avenue.

Larry Lietzke, director of the county`s parks and recreation division, said the money budgeted for the next fiscal year will be used for property acquisition and mitigation.

Mitigation is ``an enhancement of the property, to try to make it as natural as it would have been undisturbed,`` Lietzke said. It includes the preservation of mangroves and the development of a suitable environment for manatees.

West Lake Regional Park, expected to open in 1990 or 1991, is to have a nature walk, an outdoor theater and classrooms for nature studies, according to park division plans.

There never will be an athletic field at West Lake Park, but that is far from the case at the other regional park under construction, Brian Piccolo Park, named after the late Chicago Bears professional football player from St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Fort Lauderdale.

Brian Piccolo Park will be located on 180 acres near West Sheridan Street and Palm Avenue.

``This facility is planned as the major sports facility of the Broward County parks system,`` the Please see PARKS, next page

budget statement says.

Scheduled to open in late 1987 or early 1988, Brian Piccolo Park is being designed for four lighted baseball fields, three lighted soccer fields, six tennis courts, one basketball court, four racquetball courts, a bicycle path, boating, and a stadium to seat 2,500 people.

The $1.05 million that has been budgeted for the next fiscal year will be used for building construction, ballfield lighting, irrigation, landscaping, road paving and utilities.

Meanwhile, these are the improvements scheduled for the three existing regional parks:

The county proposes spending $305,000 for site improvements, including additional picnic facilities and restrooms, and the purchase of 3.6 more acres. Future projects include additional camping facilities, a fishing shelter and a bike path, according to the budget statement.

(BU) Tradewinds Park, 540 acres at Sample Road and Florida`s Turnpike, provides horseback riding, picnic facilities, bicycling, a fitness course, a petting zoo, a botanical garden and a small harness racing museum. There also are four softball/baseball fields and four soccer/football fields.

The $380,000 recommended for the next budget hearing is to be used for primitive camping facilities and an additional picnic area.

``Primitive camping as opposed to having all the nice features like restrooms and electricity,`` Lietzke said. ``Basically you throw your tent out into the wilderness . . . (It`s) roughing it.``

Future projects at Tradewinds include tennis and racquetball courts and a maintenance building.

(BU) Tree Tops Park, 256 acres at Palm Avenue and Orange Drive, currently has 60 acres of picnic space, boating, a lookout tower and a large exhibit hall that can be rented and seats up to 350 people.

Tree Tops has been budgeted for $40,000 to be used for traffic control equipment, kitchen improvements and the paving of parking lots. Future improvements include more picnic areas and a water connection with the town of Davie.

Quiet Waters and Tradewinds are to receive more money because ``we felt those parks would need to be expanded to meet the needs of the expanding population in those areas,`` Lietzke said.

The Davie area also is growing, but Tree Tops Park opened in 1983 and does not need expanding just yet, Lietzke said. ``I`m sure it will need to be expanded someday, but right now it`s not a high priority.``

No funds are recommended for Markham Park in Sunrise, Easterlin Park in Oakland Park, Plantation Heritage Park and Miramar Park. But all are included in the five-year park program.

There is, however, $3.6 million left over from a 1978 bond issue that will be used for improvements at Markham Park, Lietzke said, including swimming, boating and roller skating facilities.